My view: Standing up for women - the choice is clear

Sunday

Jan 17, 2016 at 2:00 AM

By Ruth-Ellen Blodgett

In an election where reproductive rights in this country are at stake, we need a president who will stand up for women and reproductive rights not only when it's easy - but also when it's hard. That candidate is Hillary Clinton. Women cannot afford to take a back seat in this election. That is why Planned Parenthood Mid-Hudson Valley Action Fund has endorsed Hillary Clinton - the first time ever the organization has endorsed in a presidential primary.

Make no mistake about it. Reproductive health and rights will be a deciding issue in this election.

In Washington, D.C., and in statehouses across the country, women's health will continue to face attacks. The Supreme Court of the United States will be hearing the most important abortion case in a decade - where Roe v. Wade is at stake. And the 2016 presidential race has already seen women's health and Planned Parenthood become a touchstone issue - with every single GOP candidate pushing dangerous policies that would block patients from accessing care at Planned Parenthood. This would disproportionately impact low income women and women of color, ban safe, legal abortion, and cut insurance coverage of birth control.

Millions of Americans rely on Planned Parenthood for essential reproductive health care; millions of women access birth control through their health insurance; and one in three women will have an abortion in her lifetime. Every single Republican candidate has attacked all three. The Republican field is the most extreme that we’ve seen in recent history and continues to believe that attacking women's health is a winning campaign issue - it's not. Fourteen national polls have shown that the American people support Planned Parenthood. Two-thirds of the public support access to safe, legal abortion. And three surveys conducted by Hart Research show that despite months of attacks from anti-abortion extremists and their allies in Congress, voters in the battleground states of New Hampshire, Ohio and Pennsylvania strongly support Planned Parenthood.

We need a candidate who will not only protect access to reproductive health care, but will push the needle forward. That candidate is Hillary Clinton. No other presidential contender in our nation's history has demonstrated such a strong commitment to women or such a clear record on behalf of women's health and rights. Secretary Clinton has helped move the country forward on these issues - as First Lady, as Senator, as Secretary of State - and she will keep moving us forward as president.

Ruth-Ellen Blodgett is President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Mid-Hudson Valley Action Fund.

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